The meeting of the corn and wheat cuisine occurs, tomatoes and pumpkins combine, as well as chili and onions, cacao and milk, mixtures and combinations that were defining tastes and establishing traditions.
As part of Mesoamerica, maize culture has prevailed since pre-Hispanic times, present in beverages, food, bread, and dessert.
One of the oldest oral and testimonial traditions are tamales; with beans or regional herbs, Europeans would add chicken, olives, almonds, plums, and spices such as saffron, which has Arab origins dating back to the Middle Ages.
Along with corn, beans, and squash were the other native plants from the New World that primarily made up the diet of natives in some regions of Central America. Of course, they also consumed other products like tubers, herbs, and fruits such as sapote, nance, piñuela, pitahaya, a variety of chili peppers, epazote, quilete, purslane, chipilín, cushaw, sweet potato, jicama, among others.
To this diet, they added animal-derived food made from delicious meats like turkey, deer, squirrel, rabbit, hare, agouti, pacas, tepezcuintle, iguana, turtledove, and quail, many of which have now disappeared.
A Good Soup
A hot and spicy soup or broth is essential on the menu to temper the cold. Rice is common in various presentations: white, red, green, with saffron, with vegetables; or soups like red, white, or black beans; another quite old one is pig's feet soup.
Stews stand out for their antiquity, such as chanfaina. The first one was made with deer or lamb offal, nowadays it is cooked with pork offal.
When talking about Salvadoran menus, a Salvadoran breakfast mainly consists of fried, boiled, or married beans; with cheese or cream. Fried or grilled plantains are also included; as well as fried, scrambled, hard-boiled, or soft-boiled eggs. They are accompanied by tortillas or plain bread; with the hot beverage of coffee, milk, or chocolate.
Although in some communities, regional dishes are characterized by consuming dishes like iguana stew, black rice combined with white or black beans, tamales are also included for early consumption.
Lunches
Lunch is served with a variety of foods, including a main dish and/or soup, also accompanied by tortillas. The main dishes can have chicken, beef, or pork meat; stewed, fried, or grilled, accompanied by rice and tortillas. But also, chilies, cushaws, pipians, tomatoes, tortillas filled with meat or cheese, are exquisite to the taste; adding diced potatoes, green beans, pipians.
For this mealtime, there is a variety of soups: black, red, or white bean soups; blackberries, chipilín; chicken or beef meat soup seasoned with vegetables. The preparation of seafood cream is not very common among the population, but its consumption occurs through commercialization in restaurants and eateries.
Beverages consumed during lunch include natural fruit drinks made from watermelon, melon, orange, lemon, jocote, coconut, tamarind, or seeds, as well as rice and morro horchata, barley soda, and chan, among others.
Dinners
Regarding dinner, Salvadorans' tastes vary greatly, as it generally consists of boiled or fried mashed beans, accompanied by cheese, cream, or eggs prepared in any of the ways indicated for breakfast; also accompanied by a hot beverage, coffee, or chocolate.
In desserts and sweets, Salvadoran gastronomy holds a wide variety that comes from centuries ago. The introduction of sugarcane modified sweeteners, giving rise to piloncillo, which in turn was replaced by refined sugar in sweets; however, piloncillo is still used in nuégados, flakes or pastries, as well as in squash giving it a unique touch.
A significant part is Salvadoran bakery, which has an old tradition. Its origin dates back to corn cultivation that was almost exclusively for local consumption. Corn bread, sweet bread, in their variations of preparation with eggs, piloncillo, water or milk, with lard were homemade.
The homemade production of beverages, jams, and pickled foods is associated with a time when economy and time had a different meaning. Storing cereals and other products, as well as food preservation, dates back to times when refrigeration was unknown.
The local harvest of seasonal fruits made it possible for many families of yesteryears to prepare pickles and jams that were shared for social and non-commercial purposes, thanks to the culinary virtues of women of that time.
